All-Mail Vote Gets Run in Oregon Race : Politics: Test in postal democracy in the primary for Bob Packwood’s Senate seat is garnering as much attention as the outcome of the election.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The races themselves are interesting enough: In today’s primary for the Senate seat Bob Packwood vacated, Oregon Democrats are choosing between two veteran House members whose battle turned nasty, while state Republicans will decide whether to veer from their moderate tradition and embrace a more conservative candidate.

But garnering as much attention as the outcome of this special election is the process-- an experiment in postal democracy.

For the past three weeks, registered voters from the two major parties have been voting at their leisure and returning their ballots in the mail. It is the nation’s first all-mail vote for statewide candidates. And its success, or lack thereof, may well determine whether the technique spreads.

As in previous elections, the “polls” for the primary close at 8 tonight. But these polling places are merely designated ballot drop-off sites for voters who waited too long to post their selections.

And because most ballots have been sent in already and counting is underway, nail-biting by the candidates and their supporters may be all over within the first hour. Election officials anticipate that a sizable chunk of the results will be reported quickly.

Secretary of State Phil Keisling, who designed the mail-in format and would like to see it used in all elections, is not sentimental about suspending the entrenched mechanics of Election Day. “We’re confusing the ritual of democracy with what its essence is,” he argued.

The Oregon Legislature passed a bill this year that would have adopted vote-by-mail for all state elections. But Gov. John Kitzhaber vetoed it, expressing concern the procedure was untested. State officials then saw a chance for a trial run when Packwood, a four-term Republican, decided to resign Oct. 1 in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal that had swirled around him in recent years.

The Jan. 30 general election for the seat also will be conducted by mail. If it and the primary work as intended, Keisling says he hopes the Legislature will make mail-in voting a permanent feature.

Along with the novelty aspect of the mail-in procedure, the Oregon contest inevitably will be viewed as an indicator of the mood of voters as the 1996 presidential race kicks into gear.

Seeking the Democratic Senate nomination are Rep. Ron Wyden, 46, whose district takes in much of Portland, and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, 48, whose district includes Eugene, a college town known as “Berkeley North.”

As a young man recently graduated from law school, Wyden helped form the Gray Panthers, an advocacy group for the elderly. Elected to the House in 1980, he has carved out a reputation as a champion of health and consumer issues.

DeFazio, who first won his House seat in 1986, often plays the role of contrarian in his own party. Though a liberal on some issues, he has opposed many gun-control measures and supported a balanced-budget amendment.

Wyden has led the primary race in fund-raising and in opinion polls, but DeFazio’s campaign of late has blistered him for taking money from the very institutional contributors who enriched Packwood’s coffers. “Packwood money, Packwood votes,” scolds one campaign ad.

The ad set off a strong reaction, much of it criticism of DeFazio by other Democrats. Still, Wyden has seen his early lead in the polls slip.

“The voters have said the No. 1 issue in this campaign is moral character,” said James Moore, a political science professor at the University of Portland. “That, and whether or not you are Bob Packwood.”

As such, says Moore, DeFazio’s attacks have been working. “It’s a close race.”

The Republican race does not seem as close. Holding on to a strong lead in the polls has been state Senate President Gordon Smith, 43. The multimillionaire owner of several food processing companies, Smith takes conservative positions on abortion, the environment and budget-balancing efforts in Congress.

His closest rival is state school Supt. Norma Paulus, a moderate who says she is the heir-apparent to the consensus-building political approach favored by Packwood and the state’s other Republican senator, Mark O. Hatfield. Despite endorsements from most newspapers around the state, Paulus readily admits the effectiveness of Smith’s ad onslaught during the short campaign window.